A retired footballer has told how Clarke Carlisle saved his life when he found himself on the brink of suicide.

Alone in his Norfolk home, former Norwich City midfielder Cédric Anselin was contemplating the breakdown of his marriage and missing his children.

He was ready to hang himself.

But in a brief moment of clarity amid the dark cloud of depression, the 40-year-old realised he needed to talk to someone and thought of Carlisle, another player with mental health issues.

He told the Guardian: "Immediately he told me: ‘You’re not staying alone tonight and you need to stay with someone close and go to the doctor tomorrow first thing.’”

Cedric Anselin had a short spell at Norwich City (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Frenchman Anselin, who came through the ranks at Bordeaux, played in both legs of the 1996 UEFA Cup final at age 18 alongside Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu, Christophe Dugarry.

After a brief loan spell at Lille, he joined Norwich, initially on loan and then on a permanent basis.

Anselin has told how we ended up on the brink of suicide (Image: Getty Images Europe)

He left Carrow Road after a three-year, injury-blighted spell, but while there he met his wife and settled in Norfiolk.

The next few years were difficult. Anselin played a handful of games for Ross County in Scotland before a move to Oriente Petrolero in Bolivia, where he lived in a hotel room and contracted malaria.

Eventually, he returned to Norfolk, started drinking heavily and putting on weight. To make matters worse, he said his savings of £445,000 were stolen by someone he trusted.

Carlisle with his wife Carrie have had to deal with his mental health problems together (Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

He continued to play a bit of non-league football while doing maintenance work to pay the bills, but, disillusioned with the beautiful game, decided to call it a day.

In 2012, his wife stopped him from killing himself, but last year, after their marriage had broken down, he decided again that he was ready to end his life.

Carlisle played for Northampton Town towards the end of his career (Image: Getty Images)

He said: "I was going to hang myself. In a way, it felt like I was going into a football game, in terms of the focus I had to get the job done. Somehow, the light that came from my phone in the loft just forced me to focus on contacting someone for help.”

His conversation with Carlisle, who in 2014 attempted to kill himself by stepping in front of a lorry on the A64 near York, prompted action.

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The next day, he went to see his GP and spent a month in a psychiatric hospital. In the end, after 14 years of bottling things up, he was diagnosed with severe depression.

Now player-manager for Sheringham FC, a team in the 12th tier of English football, Anselin also coaches schoolchildren. Most importantly, he's enjoying the game again.

And it's the words of his son that spur him on seek help whenever he needs it.

He said: "After I came out of hospital, my son said to me: ‘You’re not going to die on me, are you Papa?’ I said: ‘I will be with you for the rest of your life.’”

If you have been affected by this piece, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, Aware on 1800 80 48 48, or Pieta House on 01 601 0000.